A gasp ripped from my throat. I almost took my chances of her getting a shot off and ran, but her threat, along with the fury in her voice stopped me from doing so.
“You can make this easy and get in the car now or I will find those two little girls of yours and rip them away from you just as you ripped the only people I’ve ever loved from my life.”
As frightened as I was, it was a no-brainer. I wouldn’t let anything happen to Peyton and Piper because of me. As their mother, it was my job to protect them.
Lying there and now knowing who the lady was, it came to mind that she probably thought she was doing the same thing for her son. But the woman was not operating on all cylinders and I remembered Paxton saying she took meds. Ones she was clearly not on.
Once I had gotten in the car, I hoped to reason with her. Knowing she had shot at me once, I wasn’t sure that was possible.
I never got a chance. She moved her gun to her left hand but kept it trained on me and with her right, she jammed something sharp into the side of my neck. It all happened so fast that it was a blur. I didn’t have a chance to fight before darkness started to creep in.
My last thought was I wished I would have waited for Bodie.
When he got my text he was going to be mad at me for not listening.
I shut my eyes but tears still leaked out as I thought of my husband.
Then, all of a sudden, something dawned on me and my eyes popped open as I scrambled to reach into my back pocket.
“Holy shit,” I mumbled.
I had shoved my phone in my back jeans pocket after making my last call. I didn’t have my bags, purse, or jacket so the woman must have stupidly thought she was safe after having taken all that away from me. She made a mistake.
Actually, she made two mistakes, since she didn’t tie my hands either.
The woman had mental issues and without her meds she seemed to rapidly go from one thought to the next. That along with the vengeance and her anger were making her not think clearly at all.
That was a blessing for me.
Touching the face of my phone, the screen lit up and I saw tons of missed calls and texts from Bodie, along with others. Thankfully I had never taken it off silent or she would have for sure found my phone, I prayed she didn’t come back in.
Not wanting her to hear me and take the phone away, I opened my messages to shoot off a text to my husband.
Gemma: I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you. I love you so much. It’s Paxton’s mom. Please—
The sound of someone at the door stopped me from finishing my text, but I hit send and I frantically shoved my phone back into my pocket.
I couldn’t type all I wanted to say but I silently finished in my head hoping Bodie could read my mind.
Please find me. I need you.
ChapterForty
BODIE
Gemma wasn’t pickingup her phone.
I was going out of my fucking mind. When I got my wife’s text saying she’d meet me at the hospital, it had already been twenty minutes since she’d sent it. I’d finished the job and was headed her way.
But when I called to find out if she’d made it, she didn’t answer. I figured maybe her phone was on silent and she was trying not to disturb any of the patients.
When I rushed into the waiting room I found everyone there.
ExceptGemma.
“Where the hell is my wife?”
At my question, everyone looked up at me with confused expressions. “We thought you were picking her up.” Concern laced Braxton’s voice.
